Shoe and the method of making same



F. FALECK June 24, 1930.

SHOE AND THE METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed Sept. 1, 1928 INVENTOR Qfl/f feel? Patented June 24, 1930 UNITED STATES FRANK FALECK, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK SHOE AND THE METHOD OF MAKING E Application med September 1,1928. seriaine. 303,389.

This invention relates to shoes wherein only one sole is required and to the method of making such shoes.

My invention contemplates the provision 6 of a shoe in which only one lasting operation is necessary and in which the upper is secured to the outsole without the necessity for using an inner sole, in such a manner that the securing stitching is concealed and entirely enclosed, a smooth inner surface is presented in the shoe, and the operation of turning the shoe is eliminated. My invention further contemplates the provision of an improved method for mak ing such shoes, whereby substantialsavings in labor, and in the avoidance of defects and damages, are effected.

My improved shoe has most, if not all, of the advantages of a turn shoe in that only 0 a single sole is used, without necessitating the objectionable turning operation in the manufacture thereof, nor the laborious second lasting required in a turn shoe, and may therefore be produced at a substantial saving of labor over turn shoes. Similar savings may also be effected over welt shoes and over McKay stitched shoes. For example, the primary advantage of a welt shoe lies in the single lasting thereof without turning. Shoes embodying my invention possess this advantage, while eliminating the labor and expense required in the attachment of the additional'sole essential in welt shoes. My invention also makes it possible to roduce shoes more economicall than Mc ay stitched shoes can be produced:

since the last does not have to be removed and afterwards replaced, as is now necessary in McKay shoes after the stitching operation has been performed. Further, I use only a single sole instead of the inner and outer soles used in McKay shoes.

The various objects of my invention will be clear from the description which follows 5 and from the drawings, in which,

Fig. 1 is a perspective View, partly cut away, of the sole usedin mfy improved shoe.

Fig. 2 is a similar view 0 the sole in position on the last, showin the up r secured thereto and showing thelieel in p ace.

Fig. 3 is a similar view of the major part of the completed shoe, and

Fig. 4 is a vertical section of the edge portion of the shoe, showing the shapes of the various channels or cuts and showing the upper secured in place.

In that practical embodiment of my invention which l[ have illustrated by way of example, ll provide the sole 10 which may be contoured to the desired outline. Said sole is preferably split completely thereacross from the heel portion 11 to the break 12, in the manner customary in connection with turn shoes. The entire fore part of the sole 10, from the break 12 to the toe, is slit inwardly around its edge for a suflicient distance to allow the stitching of the upper to the edge portion in the manner soon to be described. The slitting is accomplished by a channel or slit 13, which leaves the central portion of the sole 1O intact, integral and of a single thickness, but which separates the edge portion of the fore part of the sole into an outer portion or lip 15 and an inner and thinner portion 16, the slit 13 being much grain side 27. I

Said slit or channel 13 is preferably curved near the outer end thereof as at 14, and extends substantially horizontally for the greater part thereof into the sole, thereby forming the lip 15, which is of greater thickness than the inner portion 16. Said slit, or channel 13. emerges preferably though not necessarily, on the flesh side 17 of the sole at a. point 18 spacedsomewhat from the sole edge 19 so as to leave said edge intact and unmutilated.

If the upper is to be stitched to the sole, whether by hand or machine stitching, the edge of the inner portion 16 is preferably channeled as at 20 toprovide a shoulder 21 for the rece tion of the terminal edge nearer the flesh side 17 of the sole than to the p portion 22 of t e upper 23. By suitably skiving said edge portion, the usual hand stitching looped over the edge of the upper at the shoulder 21 may be satisfactorily employed for securing the upper to the sole without danger of producing ridges or lumps. It is to be understood, however that all stitching may be entirely omitted if desired, and that reliance may be had on cement alone for securin and maintaining the edge portion 22 of t e upper in the interior of the sole between the sole portions 15 and 16 and also for securing said sole portions in place.

However, I prefer to secure the upper 23 in the interior of the sole 10 by stitching of the usual type, and in order to do so, and to conceal and enclose the stitching in the interior of the sole, I prefer to treat the inner portion 16 of the sole as a separate sole and to channel said inner portion with the type of channel which has been customarily used. heretofore in connection with the channeling of turn shoes. For this purpose, I

provide the inclined channel 24 spaced from the shoulder 21 a suflicient distance to provide enough material to which the upper 23 may be properly and firmly secured, and

serving the additional purpose of guiding the needle in cooperation with the bottom of the shoulder 21 during the sewing opera-.

tion. The upper 23 may be secured to the inner portion 16 of the sole as by means of the usual curved stitching 25; made on the machine customarily used for that purpose such as a Goodyear machine, and extending through the portion 16 from the bottom of the channel 24 through the shoulder 21.

In carrying out my improved method, after the sole is stock-fitted as above described, I prefer first to tack a shank-piece of the type used inturn shoes, in position on the flesh side of the sole 10, after which the sole is tacked to the last 26 with the outer or grain face 27 uppermost, or in other words, with the flesh side against the last. The upper 23 is then arranged about the last with the right side out, stretched over'the edge of the sole and secured thereto by cement, hand stitching or curved machine stitching above described. In the latter case, the single line of stitching 25 passes through the channel 24 and is run about the ent1re edge of the sole, so that the upper in any case is properly stretched and secured about its entire ed e. a

Instead 0 now removing the shoe from the last, as has heretofore been customary with turn shoes after stitching, the shoe may now be finished without removal from the last and consequent loss of time and labor. This is accomplished by trimming the edge of the upper close to the shoulder 21 if necessary, and if desired, beating out the trimmed edge to the shape shown in Fig. 4, flush with the upper surface of the inner sole portion 16, the lip 15 and the flap 29 being at this time and preferably also during the securing or stitching operat on, turned up out of the way. Forcompletm the shoe, the lips 15 are turned down, bac into position on'the upper 23 and onto the formed in the usual manner while the shoe' is in place on the last as will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

It will be seen that thefinished shoe presents the appearance of a turn shoe and has many of the advantages thereof. It will further be seen that the edge of the upper 23 is substantially enclosed in the interior of the sole between the outer face 27 thereof and the inner face 17.

Furthermore, the inner face 17 of the sole need not be levelled or finished in any way, as it is left perfectly smooth and in finished condition and can therefore cause no hurt to the wearer. If desired, however, the usualwill further be seen that if stitching is used,

of whatever type, only a single line thereof is necessary, and that considerable labor may be savedin making my im roved shoe and by my improved method, without detracting from the efiicacy of the resulting product.

By dispensing with the turning operation,

the strains imposed on turn shoes in the manufacture thereof are eliminated, together with the consequent necessity for cobbling and repairs. Nor is the leather of the upper strained or cracked, as quite often happens in turn shoes.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, I do not wish to be understood as limitin myself thereto, but intend to claim my mvention as broadly as may be permitted by the state of the prior art and the scope of the appended claims.

v I claim: I

1. In a shoe structure, a sole of a single iece of material splitat the edges thereof or allowing the insertion of a shoe upper into the interior of said sole, an upper inserted into said split, and concealed stitching arranged between the opposed faces of the sole and substantially parallel to said faces and securing said upper to the inner split portion of the sole only.

2. In a shoe structure, a single sole constituting both the inner sole and the outer sole of the shoe, an upper, and stitching in the interior of the sole securing the upper to said sole with the terminal edge portion of the upper in the interior of said sole, said stitching being concealed and arranged between the faces of the sole and substantially parallel thereto.

3. In a shoe structure, a sole constituting the inner and outer sole of the shoe, and an upper secured to said sole intermediate the inner and outer faces of the sole, by stitching entirely enclosed within the sole, said stitching being concealed and arranged between and substantially parallel to the faces of the sole.

4. In a shoe structure, a single sole forming the finished bottom of the shoe, a pair of edge flaps integral with said sole and split from the edge thereof, and having their free edges nearest the edge of the sole, an upper passed over and outside of the free edge of one of the flaps and having its edge portion covered by said flaps, and concealed means for securing the upper. to the inner edge flap only,

5. In a shoe structure, a sole, a pair of edge flaps formed by splitting the edge of said sole, and an upper secured to said sole by substantially horizontal concealed stitching between said flaps.

6. In a shoe structure, a sole forming both the inner sole and the outer sole of the shoe, a pair of edge flaps on said sole formed by splitting the sole along the edge thereof, a channel on the inner flap, an upper, stitching. passing through said channel and said upper for securing the upper to the sole, and means for securing the outer flap to the inner flap and to the upper.

7. In a shoe structure, a sole of a single piece of material forming the inner sole and the outer sole of the shoe, and split along its edge to form an inner and an outer flap, said inner flap having an edge channel, and having an inclined seaming channel spaced from said edge channel, an upper arranged in said edge channel, stitching passing through said upper and through said inclined channel for securing the upper to the inner fiap, and cementitious means for securing the outer flap to the inner flap and to the upper.

8. In a shoe structure, a sole of a single piece of material split at its edge to provide an outer lip having an unmutilated outer edge and an inner portion, an upper arranged with its terminal edge passing about the peripheral edge of the inner portion and extending away from said edge toward the center of the sole, and covered by said outer lip, means concealed in the interior of the sole for securing the edge of the upper to said sole, and means for securing said lip and inner portion together with the edge of the upper therebetween.

9. In a shoe structure, adapted to be made by a single lasting operation, a sole split at the edges thereo an upper, and stitching concealed by the sole securing the upper in place in the split with its terminal edge in the interior of the sole, said stitching being interposed between the arranged substantially parallel to said faces.

10. In a shoe structure, a sole of a single piece ofinaterial split from the heel to the break and further split along its edge to form an outer flap about the fore part of the sole and an inner flap below said outer flap, said inner flap having an edge channel for the reception of the edge of an upper and having a second channel spaced from said first channel and substantially parallel thereto, said channels extending about the entire sole inclusive of the inner edge flap, the sole having an unmutilated edge on the outer faces of the sole and flap, an upper arranged with its terminal edge portion in the edge channel of the inner flap, stitching passing through the channels of the inner flap and through the terminal edge of the upper for securing the upper in place, a heel on the rear portion of the rear inner flap, and cement securing the inner and outer flaps on the fore part of the sole together, and securing the rear outer flap to the front face of the heel.

11. In a shoe structure, a combination with a shoe sole having a slit extending into said sole from a point on the flesh side of said sole, spaced from the edge of the sole and separating the fore part of the sole into an inner flap and an outer flap of greater thickness than the inner flap, and an upper having its terminal edge stitched to said inner flap only.

12. The method of making a shoe, consisting of splitting a sole along the fore part of the edge thereof, positioning said sole on a last with the grain side out, arranging an upper about the last with the right side out, stitching the terminal edge of the upper to the inner split portion of the sole only, and cementing said sole together at the split thereof.

13. The method of making a shoe, consisting of partly splitting a sole by a cut directed from the edge of the sole toward its center, and securing the upper to the sole between the inner and outer faces of said sole by stitching concealed in the'interior of the sole and arranged substantially parallel to the faces of the sole.

14.. The method of making a shoe, consisting of'partly splitting a sole, channelling one of the flaps formed by so splitting the sole and securing the edge of an upper to the channelled flap, and cementing the other flap on to the channel flap and to, the edge of the upper.

15. The method of making a shoe, consisting of partly splitting a sole to form two face adjacent to the other flap, and securing the terminal edge of an upper to the channelled flap.

16. The method of making a shoe, consisting of partly splitting a sole, channelling one of the edge flaps of said sole on the face adjacent to the other flap, lasting said sole with the grain face uppermost, lasting an upper with the right side out, securing the upper to the channelled flap, and cementing the flaps together, whereby the edge of the upper becomes arranged in the interior of the sole.

17. In a shoe structure, a sole, edge flaps formed by splitting the edge of said sole toward the center thereof, and an upper passed outside of the edge of one flap and secured to said sole by stitchin arranged between said flaps, and conceale thereby.

18. The method of making a shoe, consisting of temporarily securing a split sole to a last with the grain side out, stitching an unturned upper in the split of the sole by substantially horizontal concealed stitching while the sole remains on the last, and completing the shoe while the relative ositions of the secured u per and sole an the last remain substantia unchanged.

F ANK FALECK. 

